How To Get Rid Of Belly Pouch

Although no single exercise can pinpoint belly fat reduction, running can be an effective tool in at least reducing the belly pouch that develops from fat and loose tissue. Running is an all-body exercise, and through specific training methods, you can trick your body into tapping into fat and using it for fuel. At the same time, you can engage in some easy, efficient abdominal exercises that will tone your belly pouch's underlying musculature.

From Carbohydrates to Fats

When sleeping, your body burns blood glucose and liver-stored glycogen. By the time you wake up, your body has depleted many readily available carbohydrates and will preserve the remainder by burning fat instead, according to Running Research News. This metabolic shift happens on an intensified scale when marathoners "hit the wall"; they have depleted their muscle-stored carbohydrate, or glycogen, and must metabolize fats. However, fat oxidization is especially inefficient and requires stealing oxygen away from muscles. This causes the marathoners' severe muscle fatigue.

Interval Training on the Bike

The direct route to fat burning is to insert short, intense efforts into your workouts. In 2006, the Journal of Applied Physiology reported a Canadian study revealing that interval training increased fat burning significantly. Eight female cyclists performed 10 sets of 4-minute, high-intensity bouts with 2-minute rests, followed by a moderate 60-minute workout. The cyclists' use of fat as fuel increased by 36 percent, a sizable improvement.

Interval Training on the Run

For runners, the same wisdom applies: alternate short, intense efforts with short, easy efforts. For example, runners can perform 30-second work periods with 90-second intervals of jogging, continuously for 60 minutes. This is highly effective for belly fat burning, according to Turbulence Training. Those rest intervals should be so easy that by the time you begin your work interval, you can burst into the hard effort immediately. Imagine lighting a fat fire each time you shift into high speed.

Support for Brief Intervals While Running

A 1999 study published by the European Journal of Applied Physiology reports that the greatest level of fat burning results from extremely short intervals: 6 seconds of intense running, with 9 seconds recovery. Super-short work periods enhance fat burning because the oxidization of fat for energy is a function of myoglobin, a muscle-bound protein that need frequent oxygen replenishment. Beyond 15 seconds' hard effort, myoglobin cannot load any more oxygen and thus cannot burn any more fat -- but a brief rest allows myoglobin to reload. Thus, the more frequent this mini-cycle, the more total fat can be oxidized.

Abdominal Exercise

Sit ups cannot "turn" fat into muscle but they can tighten underlying muscle. Try lying on your back, raising your knees and feet so your calves are perpendicular to the floor, and -- using only your abdominals -- slowly contracting forwards 6 to 8 inches and lowering yourself back down. Very slow contractions and extensions will tone abdominals and improve your running posture, so sit up, make plans and get moving.